ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

POP/ROCK

Elton John a ‘Hero,’ AIDS Charity Says

British pop legend Sir Elton John says he was lucky not to have contracted HIV as a result of his lifestyle.

Speaking at a charity event this week at which he was given a Hero Award for AIDS-related fund-raising, the singer said it had taken the death from AIDS in 1990 of an American hemophiliac, Ryan White, to convince him to change his lifestyle. He was at the 18-year-old’s deathbed, he recalled, and sang at his funeral.

“It was a time in my life when I really wasn’t behaving myself very well. If you look at the footage of me singing at his funeral, I look like a 90-year-old man. Shortly afterward, because of what I saw, and how ashamed I was of myself, and my selfish behavior, I decided to get sober, especially being a gay man who was very lucky not to get infected.”

Because he was given a second chance, he said, he vowed to do something positive. Since then, he’s become involved with the UK Coalition of People Living With HIV and AIDS and formed his own AIDS foundation, which has handed out more than $30 million.

Furtado Not Amused by Magazine Cover Photo

Nelly Furtado is miffed about a midriff. The Canadian singer has complained that a photo of her on the cover of the British men’s magazine FHM was digitally altered to show a bare torso--and it’s not hers.

“There I am with a shirt that has actually been digitally altered to go to just below my chest, with a stomach that I don’t recognize, saying ‘Nelly Furtado--her sexiest shoot yet,’” the singer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. “I don’t like being misrepresented to my fans. You work hard to represent a certain thing and have a certain image, and somebody can take it all away with the cover of a magazine.”

Magazine spokespeople had no immediate comment.

MOVIES

‘Blade Runner’--The Third Go-Round

“Blade Runner” is being recut--again. But, unlike the 1992 10th-anniversary revision, it’s not being called a “director’s cut.”

Ridley Scott’s main DVD producer, Charles de Lauzirika, told the trade publication Video Premieres that most of the director’s major fixes--the removal of the narration, the happy ending and the inclusion of the unicorn--were covered in the 1992 version. But still, he says, Scott wasn’t completely satisfied.

In the third and “final little polish” for DVD, he says, there will be more emphasis on the dream sequence with the unicorn--footage that, contrary to rumor, was not shot for Scott’s 1985 movie “Legend.”

There is no deadline for completion of the project.

‘A.I.,’ ‘Potter’ Among Effects Contenders

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced eight contenders for achievement in visual effects at this year’s Oscar ceremony.

In alphabetical order, they are “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Cats and Dogs,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Jurassic Park III,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Pearl Harbor.”

The visual effects award nomination committee will screen 15-minute clip reels from each on Feb. 6 and narrow the field down to three. The winner will be announced on March 24 at the 74th Academy Awards, to be televised on ABC.

Photos Celebrate Women in Film

Thirty women, including performers Joan Allen and Susan Sarandon, producer Jane Rosenthal, editor Dede Allen and screenwriter-directors Jane Anderson and Allison Anders, will be featured in “Great Women of Film: Photographs by Helena Lumme and Mika Manninen,” an exhibition to be presented at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ lobby gallery Feb. 8 through April 21 before going on tour.

Some of the subjects are depicted in fantasy settings, while others are playing roles such as a gypsy or a sheriff. “We wanted to give the exhibition visitors interesting stories, as well as showcasing the women,” Manninen says.

Videotaped interviews with the subjects will be published in book form and turned into a documentary.

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THEATER

‘The Producers’ Heading for San Diego

The national touring production of the Broadway smash hit “The Producers” will have its West Coast premiere at the San Diego Civic Theatre, a Nederlander executive told The Times.

The Mel Brooks musical, which revolves around greedy Broadway producers seeking to mount a sure-fire hit, won a record 12 Tony Awards last year. The two-week run in San Diego, from Dec. 31-Jan. 12, 2003, will not be the first stop on the national tour, although officials would not confirm in which city the tour would launch.

No casting has been announced.

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RADIO

Belt-Tightening at Minnesota Public Radio

Minnesota Public Radio, one of the largest public radio networks, will cut jobs from its staff and trim back its current year’s budget because of the economic downturn--exacerbated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

According to MPR President Bill Kling, the network’s budget will grow by 6% in the 2002 fiscal year instead of 15% as originally expected. As many as 13 people are being cut from a work force of about 350.

No ripples are expected at Pasadena-based KPCC-FM (89.3), which MPR has a hand in managing. CEO Bill Davis met with his staff on Wednesday and said that no layoffs or budget cuts are planned. The station has already trimmed its budget, refrained from buying certain equipment and reduced the staff through attrition, he said.

“Individual membership and donations were at record levels this past fall,” Davis said. “But we’ve got a number of grant applications out, and our budgetary fate hangs in the balance. If the media recession continues, we may have to rethink our plan. We’ll be prudent and manage month to month.”

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TELEVISION

‘Musicians’ Served Up by Bravo in New Series

Just in case you thought there weren’t enough celebrity interviews on TV already, the Bravo channel is launching a new one next month: “Musicians.” It will air Mondays at 10 p.m.

David Wild, a contributing editor to Rolling Stone, will be the host. His first guest, on Feb. 4, will be Lou Reed. Succeeding weeks will bring Sheryl Crow, Barry Manilow, Alanis Morissette, Tony Bennett and Blondie’s Deborah Harry and Chris Stein.

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QUICK TAKES

The Tony Award-winning “Copenhagen” will be the next offering in KCET-TV’s national drama series “PBS Hollywood Presents.” Directed by Howard Davies (“The Secret Rapture”) with a screenplay by playwright Michael Frayn, it will be co-produced by KCET and the BBC and is set to begin filming in the next few months. No casting has been announced.... The Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills is presenting “Rod Serling: The Twilight Zone and Beyond,” Feb. 8 to April 21.... Mira Nair, director of the upcoming “Monsoon Wedding,” will be honored at the 2002 Palm Springs Film Festival today.... No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, frontman for the band Bush, are planning to marry after six years together. No date has been set.

Elaine Dutka